Times They Rearrange
by domina tempore
Summary: In which Beckett and her father talk about The Case…Homage to "Sucker Punch", tag to Knockdown.


**Castle:** _Times They Rearrange_

_Title: from Anberlin, "A Day Late"_

_by: jewel of athos _

_Disclaimer: Castle and all of its characters and locations belong to their respective owners. I own only my original storylines. No copyright infringement intended!_

_Summary: In which Beckett and her father talk about The Case…Homage to "Sucker Punch", tag to Knockdown. Spoilers!_

_Author's Note: My initial gut reaction to this episode was a LOT of flailing and incoherent spazziness (which a couple of friends VERY graciously listened to and endured), and writing wasn't even an option for a couple of hours after I saw it, which sort of disappoints me. But I like this one; it needs a little brushing up, but it was my first time writing her father, and I think I'm satisfied. (:__The first line in this fic decided it for me._

_Special thanks to everyone who has read or reviewed etc. any of my stories, but particularly my Castle fics. You guys mean the world to me! (:_

*~_~**o**0**o**~_~*

There were tears in my father's eyes when I saw him that night. This one was different than the other times, and we both knew it. There were risks for me coming out tonight to meet him, and we both knew it. Same kind of diner, same kind of fear… We both knew what it could mean, how one tiny slug of dull metal could make all of the difference in the world to us.

I didn't want to believe it.

"Hey Dad."

"Hey, sweetheart. Come here." For far longer than normal I stood wrapped in his hug. In this situation, my own strength wasn't enough to get me through it; I found myself leaning and drawing on my father's love and support. Finally, when I had regained the strength to hide my own tears, we sat down. In our usual booth, nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to suggest the terror of the unnamed sniper still looming.

"How are you doing with all of this?" he asked me, hands curled around a mug of coffee. It made me wince a little bit to look at those hands and remember the same scene playing out only hours before. I hid my fear. I'd placed myself between my father and any danger, and I was going to keep it that way.

"It's tough," I admitted, the words coming hard for me. "Having to rehash this all again, and yet still remain so _useless_…" He reached across the table and took my hand. "I should be doing so much more with this; I should be doing _something_ -!"

"Katie, you know that Roy was right to do what he did."

"I'm not so sure about that. Alright, maybe I lost my head a little bit; but he has no right to keep me out of the loop on this. This whole case started with me; and I have to be the one to end it!"

"I understand that; but you're all I have left! I don't want to find out that my baby girl was murdered in the streets by the _same person_ who killed my wife. Call me a selfish old man, but I'm glad that he took you off the front line!"

"Dad –"

"Katie, please listen to me. We _both_ went through hell after what happened to your mother. You don't think I remember it? There's not a day that goes by when I don't remember that day, and consider the bottle. And I know what you go through. You don't realize it, but I know. And Katie…I don't want you to kill yourself over this."

"Dad," I leaned forward slowly, blinking back the tears I thought I had banished, "whatever it takes, I am going to find out who was responsible for her death, and I am going to bring him to justice. Whatever it takes."

"Risking yourself is not going to bring your mother back, Katie. And risking your friends in the process…" He shook his head, and I felt his disapproval cover me like a weighted blanket. "You need to slow down, please. For me. Yes, investigate, do whatever you have to do to find out who did it; but not at the cost of yourself. I can't lose you too." The anger drained out of me when I heard the terror in his voice, and I squeezed his hand. I was still fighting tears when I answered him.

"You're not going to lose me," I promised. "I'm angry, but I'm not reckless. And I have friends who I can trust with my life. If I'm ever going to do something stupid, they'll be there to hold me back." I sighed. "I promise that we'll both get through this, okay? I _promise_."

_fin._

*~_~**o**0**o**~_~*

_A/N: Sort of an homage to "Sucker Punch", but reversed, I guess…? I don't know. They paralleled other things in the episode in a similar way, so I decided to try this one. I'm sorta pleased… Not too bad for 4:30am haha ;)._

_Thanks for reading! _


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